Cardinals defeat Hunt 8-0 in third round

Jacksonville is making its run in the NCHSAA 3-A soccer playoffs look easy.

Chris Miller-Prep Sports Writer

Jacksonville is making its run in the NCHSAA 3-A soccer playoffs look easy.

The Cardinals advanced to the East Regional semifinals with an 8-0 victory over Wilson Hunt Tuesday night, and now has defeated their three playoff opponents by a combined 24-1 score.

Not too bad for Jacksonville, which has been the top-ranked team in the N.C. Soccer Coaches Association 3-A poll since early October.

“Offensively, once we get going, it’s tough to defend,” Jacksonville coach Dave Miller said. “Tonight, we won a lot of balls in the midfield. Even though at times I thought we turned the ball over, we didn’t allow them (Warriors) to get going, which helped us out a lot.”

The Cardinals, the champion of the Coastal Conference, will have to travel when they play in the regional semifinals, which will likely be Saturday. Jacksonville will play the winner of tonight’s game between Southern Nash (17-4-1) and Cleveland (19-6).

If Jacksonville were to win in that round, the Cardinals will have advanced to the regional finals for the eighth consecutive season.

“What we have been doing is working together, talking and moving the ball,” Jacksonville senior goalkeeper Zach McCracken said. “We’ve had a pretty strong team this year and we’ve had really good teamwork.”

That’s because each and every one of the Cardinals have thoughts of winning a state title this year, senior midfielder Austin Patselas said.

“We all come ready for a common reason and that’s the ring,” he said. “We all want it more than everybody else and we want to prove that game after game.”

Hunt first-year coach Scott Summers, whose team ended the season 16-7-1 and finished third in the Big East Conference, could only give credit to the Cardinals after the loss.

The Warriors dropped a 2-1 decision at Jacksonville last year in the regional semifinals.

“Jacksonville has a great team, an all-around team that can come at you from all different directions,” Summers said. “I tried to go defensive from the beginning, but they got a quick early goal. We were still trying to fight to stay in it, but they just kept putting the ball in the back of the net.”

The Cardinals began their scoring onslaught early as Patselas gave Jacksonville a 1-0 lead just 2:26 into the match. Following a Jacksonville corner kick, a Hunt defender attempted to kick the ball down the field, but it was blocked by Patselas, who then fired a shot from inside the 18-yard box.

“I took a chest volley and I tucked it away,” Patselas said. “Most of the time when we get one, we can go off the hype and go at it.”

This was the second straight game Patselas sparked the Cardinals with their first goal. He gave Jacksonville a 1-0 lead in a 7-1 second-round victory over West Brunswick on Saturday.

“Austin does a lot for us on the field,” Miller said. “He’s a good presence in the midfield, his work rate is good and he wins a lot of balls.”

It didn’t long after Patselas’ goal for the Cardinals to extend their lead.

Senior Aaron Sparks scored just five minutes later after he took the ball to near the left post, slipped on the wet field, and shot while standing back up. Sophomore C.J. Sparks then scored off an assist from senior Blake Heatherly about 10 minutes later while Patselas made it 4-0 with 14:26 left in the first half when he scored off a 30-yard shot.

C.J. Sparks scored twice more in the second half while Aaron Sparks added another goal in the final 40 minutes.

“As long as you are winning, it doesn’t matter who is scoring,” Patselas said. “As long as you are winning, that’s all that matters.”

Miller has been pleased his team has showed this sort of balanced attack all season.

“Because you can’t key on one player,” he said. “It could be Warren (Washington) one night, it could be Aaron, C.J., Austin or Tyler Moore.”

Jacksonville didn’t allow a shot on goal until 12 minutes left in the first half.